Goodbye
by Darkchilde
Summary: It's the hardest word to hear sometimes...


Disclaimer: Not mine, all FFC's. Really. They both belong to FFC. Not to me. *grin* This was a weird little story that I came up with, and I wrote down. Tell me what ya think!! *girn* Hope you like it! And, actually, I sorta like it to...I might write a sequal, or a prequal...or both! Ya never know with me...  
  
On another note, the first chapter of Blood Moon will hopefully be out by the end of the weekend.   
  
Goodbye  
  
  
"I don't love you anymore."   
  
The words hung in the air, stifling and cold and harsh and impossible to take back. Taking a deep breath, he pressed on, not letting her see how the small noise that she made at the back of her throat affected him. He shut his eyes and ears, trying to block out the sudden, breaking sob that assulted his ears.   
  
"Wha...what did you say?" Her voice quivered, breaking on the first word. His resolve nearly shattered at the sound of his voice, but he straitened his shoulders, and keep on, knowing that this was for the best.   
  
"You heard me. I...I don't love you anymore. It's...it's over." This wasn't the way it was suppose to go. It wasn't suppose to be this hard. It hadn't been this hard when he had rehearsed it in his mind.   
  
"Why?" She barely breathed the single word, but he heard it more clearly then if she had shouted it in his ear.   
  
"Because..because I don't. My feelings changed. Peter says that I'm allowed to change my feelings." The flippant response fell flat, and he knew it. He had retreated back into his shell of biting humor, trying to hide behind it, to run from the pain that was ripping through his heart.   
  
She didn't say anything for a long second, her breathing labored and shuddering, like she was holding back full blown sobs. He heard it, and kept his eyes closed, trying to keep the pain in his heart from spilling over. He'd been trained since birth to hide his feelings, to keep himself apart from everyone.   
  
The silence continued to streaching on and on, until the pressing weight of it was nearly unbareable. her soft sobs ripped at his heart, but he hardened it to steel, trying to keep her tears from affecting him the way that they had always.   
  
He remembered the first time that he had ever seen her cry. She was huddled in the back of the boat house, her legs drawn up under her chin, her face buried in her knees, her shoulders shaking softly. He remembered the blast of pain that had shoot through him, seeing her so upset. He had gone to her, comforted her, reached out to her.   
  
And she, in turn reached out for him. She had stood by his side when the general had come to see him, defending him with her love, giving him the strength he needed to stand up to the man that had made his life a living hell since he was born.   
  
A soft smile touched his lips when he remembered the impression of his father she had done, trying to make him smile. She had beamed at him then, glad that she had made him laugh the way that he had made her laugh.   
  
That's when he had known, with the kind of clarity that was rare for him, that she was the woman he would love for the rest of his life. However, he hadn't been able to tell her, not for nearly three years. They were seperated for two of those years, writing and talking on the phone as often as they could. He'd only been able to see her five times over those two years, but each visit gave him the strength to carry on until he saw her again.   
  
His mind pulled up the first time he had ever told her that he loved her. It had been at Daisy and Ezra's wedding reception. She looked beautiful in her soft purple dress, her long hair falling down her shoulders, and surrounding her face in a million curls.   
  
He'd dragged her out of the hall, telling her that he had something "important" to tell her. She had laguhed, and followed him, never expecting the declaration that came next. He had pulled her into his arms, and kissed her under the moonlight, pushing her hair back. He had looked into her eyes, and whispered the words against her smooth skin. He still remembered her wide eyes as they stared at him, amazed that he had actually admited it. Then she had smiled, a million watt smile that lit up his life and heart, and said the words that he had longed to hear all of his life.   
  
"I love you too."   
  
The years after that had been pure bliss. They were finally able to be together, away from the scruntiny of everyone that had known them before. He could wake up holding her, and kissing her good morning without fear of being caught.   
  
But Heaven was a temporary place, he had discovered, and it disappeared far to soon. They had found out. And they had not approved.   
  
And they had been right.   
  
He wasn't good enough for her, he wasn't what she needed or deserved in life. He knew all of that, he had thought so since he had first fallen for her, so very long ago. But to hear the words spoken, that had just solidified what he already knew.   
  
He had to give her up, even if it killed him. It already was killing him. He couldn't image life without her. He cringed, his words from just a few minutes ago coming back to haunt him.   
  
It was the first time, over the course of their nearly five year affair, that he had ever lied to her.   
  
"So this is it?" Her voice broke his heart again; this was the first time that he had ever been the cause of the pain in her voice.   
  
"Yeah."   
  
The silence was deafening. Finally, after enternity, she broke it, with one whispered phrase that killed him as easily as a bullet through the heart would.   
  
"Goodbye David." Her voice broke on the last word, and she released the sobs that had been building at the back of her throat.   
  
The slamming of the door shook him to the very core. The symbolic finality of that door wasn't lost on him. As soon as he was sure that she was gone, he allowed himself to break down. Sobs ripping at the back of his throat, he whispered the words that he had once sworn never to utter.   
  
"Goodbye Jess." 


End file.
